VST version of loop pedal.

[n9]

to answer the original question though:

the most similar plugins to loop pedals are"

1. Just like a looper stomp box: Guitar Rig's looper. It comes with a lot of other things, too, but this is the most direct implementation. Amplitube's looper looks similar. Ableton's looper's basic functions are here, too.
2. A lot more than a looper stomp box and maybe hard to get set up: Mobius (32 bit only, boo) and Augustus Loop. These both do a lot more than stomp box and have a lot of flexibility but are also more complicated and have learning curves.

If you want to do solo loop work I would actually recommend looking into the iOS loopers and running one of them on an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch with a bluetooth foot switch and an audio interface. I think that the looper model has been better done in this format. There are a lot of iOS loopers out there, with Loopy (http://loopyapp.com) probably being the most well established.


I have been using loopers as a central part of my music making since I bought two Lexicon JamMan (the original) in 1994. I've had a lot of different loopers in the time since: dl4s, boomerangs, lowfi loop junkies, etc and built mixing and patching setups to support a lot of different stuff. I've gone 100% in the box for looping for the last few years and it is great. I use Ableton's looper and (now, more recently) Augustus Loop for this with MIDI foot controllers. I think that Ableton's looper is so good it is worth the cost to buy Live so that you can have it. As far as I know only Ableton's Looper and Augustus Loop have the ability to do a send/receive in the feedback loop of a running loop (so you can apply tape emulation, or a little compression.. or whatever you want that gets re-applied every time the loop runs) --- and that is something that I use extensively to build Eno-like feedback loops and that kind of thing.

Anyway. More looper information that you cared to know, I'm sure... but that's my take.

[someone called simon]

To amplify the bit about Live being the most ideal solution, both mainstage and the soon to be released zen audio ALK (if op uses mac), do maybe nearly as much, maybe more depending on what you're looking at doing exactly, for considerably less money. So worth a look as well.

Though the op has maybe lost interest it seems.

My understanding of Live's looper was that it was rather basic, but after seeing what this guy does to use midi control channels to sequence the recording and playback of different loops has changed that, and rekindled my interest in Live a little. I have a an earlier version of Live without the looper. But to upgrade would cost several times more than the price of Mainstage or ALK at the intro price. Still looks good though.

[4drX]

You may want to take a look at this one too:
http://4drx.com/plugins/looprecorder
I'd suggest linking "AutoLoad", "Clear", "Undo" and "Redo" to MIDI pedals or MIDI notes on your keyboard (if you have skillful fingers on your feet ) to jam with your guitar. It's straightforward, just right-click on the buttons to set them up.

[Mumbai]

And there is this one, the Echoloop, a VST recreation of the mighty Oberheim Echoplex, made by the guys who did the Echoplex algos:
http://www.mathons.com/
Not as complicated as Moebius, but also many possibilities (see the manual of the original EDP Loop IV for info). If you get into it, that thing has some special musical abilities, more "modern" loopers are a joke compared to this.